2022 F1 Austrian GP FP1: What did we learn?

The first and only practice session before the all-important 2022 F1 Austrian GP is now out of the way. We have the reigning champion Max Verstappen leading the standings chased down by a bunched-up field of Ferrari and Mercedes drivers. As the checkered flag came down in the session, we had Charles Leclerc in 2nd, George Russell in 3rd, and Lewis Hamilton in 4th. In a session that featured two red flags, teams were able to hustle their way through the session and get everything done as smoothly as possible.

So, after only an hour of running before things heated up, what did we learn? Let's find out!

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2022 F1 Austrian GP FP1: What did we learn?

#1 The Red Bull-Max Verstappen combination is the favorite this weekend

The Red Bull-Max Verstappen combo got the ball rolling early in the session as Verstappen jumped to the top of the timesheets early in the session. Once the Red Bull driver found himself there, no one surpassed him as throughout his run plan, he maintained his superiority over the rest of the grid.

Verstappen knows the Austrian GP is the home race for the team and has brought his A-Game for it as well.

#2 Mercedes and Ferrari are not too far behind

The good news for Mercedes was the proximity of the two drivers to the front of the grid. The bad news? Charles Leclerc still had a tenth over both of them. This makes it a very interesting race weekend this time around with both Leclerc and Max Verstappen holding a couple of tenths of a buffer over the Mercedes drivers.

The race will surely see it come down to the strategies the teams use to gain an advantage over each other.

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#3 McLaren hit trouble early

Pre-weekend fears for the 2022 F1 Austrian GP came to life in the worst possible way for McLaren as Lando Norris suffered a power unit issue that resulted in a red flag early in the session, forcing him out of contention. Even when the McLaren cars were running, Daniel Ricciardo ran at the bottom rungs of the timesheets.

The Australian's time was good enough only for 17th on the timesheets. The time is not entirely indicative of where McLaren will find itself in the pecking order but it does reflect that the Woking-based squad is already on the backfoot this weekend.

#4 The Haas/Aston Martin/Alpine combo will be fighting it out in the midfield

Before the race weekend even began, it was expected that Aston Martin and Alpine could be looking forward to fighting at the front of the midfield. To an extent, the two teams appeared to be in contention. Keep an eye out for Haas as well, however, as both Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher were able to put together some strong times as compared to Alpine.

Due to the condensed nature of the session, sometimes it's hard to know which team is on which run plan. Even if we consider everything, Alpine looks strong and Aston Martin appears to hold its own in all of this, while Haas is still a bit of a wildcard. The picture will become clear during qualifying, but for now, these three teams will be the ones worth keeping an eye on.

#5 Valtteri Bottas destined for a back-of-the-grid start for the 2022 F1 Austrian GP

Alfa Romeo's biggest Achilles heel this season has been the reliability of the car. As it turns out, even before the 2022 F1 Austrian GP has commenced, the team is on the back foot. Valtteri Bottas will be forced to start Sunday's race at the back of the grid as he installs a new power unit on his car.

Alfa Romeo has had a strong car this season but once again with another reliability problem, Valtteri Bottas will have his race compromised even before it begins.